We would like to extend a very warm welcome to the autumn edition of the CS WINdow, the Contship Italia Group newsletter that delivers updates about our Group, with insights into some of our industry’s hottest topics.

This week is a special week for Contship, as some members of our senior management have embarked on a tour to Asia to engage with major stakeholders in Chinese and Taiwanese cargo and supply-chain to promote the benefits of La Spezia Homeport and Contship’s uniquely integrated “port-to-door” offer.

Both China and Taiwan are important partners for Contship, and especially with the Chinese government’s “One Belt One Road” initiative, links with Europe are growing stronger. Read more about this progressive project below.

Contship delegation in Dalian

As connections between different parts of the world continue to improve, transit times can be reduced. However, inventory costs remain one of the most important factors to fine-tune, in order to manage risk. Below, we have outlined how Contship can help your company reduce these costs.

Speaking of improved transit times, we are delighted to announce that Hannibal, Contship Italia Group multimodal transport operator, will increase the frequency of the Melzo-Frenkendorf (Switzerland) rail service from three to five round trips, starting December 11th 2017. We took this chance to talk with Roman Mayer, CEO at Swissterminal AG, Hannibal's partner in Frenkendorf, about this cooperation.

Of course, the past few months saw many more exciting events. The delivery of new ship-to-shore cranes to Terminal Container Ravenna, and Bombardier’s opening of a new maintenance facility at the Contship Hub in Melzo are just the tip of the iceberg.

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Shippers see rising costs at every link in the increasingly complex transport chain. The cost of holding inventory stock is a huge component of logistics. It is broadly defined as the cost of the transit and waiting times between transportation of goods. Inventory consumes a significant amount of cash flow for retailers in particular.

That is why gaining control over inventory costs has become an integral part of efforts to make transport logistics more cost efficient.

It is also true to say that shippers who work with logistics providers with a clear vision on how to cut inventory cost are more productive and efficient and better able to drive their own costs lower. Read the full article.

Inside the Industry:Rethinking business environment through strategic partnerships and stronger cooperation

A quick talk with Swissterminal’s CEO Roman Mayer to give insight on rail transport and the importance of parterships.

The Frenkendorf-based logistics service provider Swissterminal AG has been Contship’s partner for many years. As Hannibal is set to increase its service frequency to Frenkendorf to five times per week, we have taken this occasion to talk with Swissterminal’s CEO Roman Mayer about the cooperation of the two companies. Read the full article.

Inside the Industry:Global Rail Logistics: connecting Italy and Europe to the One Belt One Road network

With President Xi Jin Ping re-elected to serve another term as China’s paramount leader at the 19th Communist Party Congress this month (Oct 2017), the One Belt One Road (OBOR) infrastructure project has been given fresh impetus.

The OBOR initiative is a central part of President Xi’s vision for China to secure and increase trade with the rest of the world. It aims to develop new infrastructure worth more than $1 trillion, especially railways and highways, to connect countries across three continents to China.

While the exact numbers and details remain imprecise, there is no doubt the Chinese have the political will and economic power to ensure that OBOR becomes a reality.

Already the reaction in Europe to OBOR has been positive and economies within the EU region stand to gain. Read the full article.

In the Spotlight:Bombardier and Contship Rail Hub Milano celebrate the opening of a new maintenance workshop for locomotives and rolling stock

The number and the variety of value added services available at the Contship intermodal platform Rail Hub Milano keeps growing, with the inauguration of the new Bombardier rail workshop dedicated to equipment maintenance and repair.

Bombardier, global leader in rail technology and equipment manifacturing, inaugurated on Thursday October 5th a new maintenance facility within the Contship Italia’s Rail Hub in Melzo, to provide fast assistance to the locomotives requiring maintenance operating on the regional network.